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| Amy Poehler and Matt Besser around 2000. |
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| Look, it's Amy, Amy, and Amy! |
I don't know much about the improv scene, but from what I do know, Second City (based in Chicago) and Upright Citizens Brigade (based in NYC) are two big powerhouses.Tina Fey, Dan Aykroyd, Stephen Colbert, and Jane Lynch are all graduates of Second City. Amy Poehler, Aziz Ansari, Rob Cordry, and Ellie Kemper are all UCB alumni.
New York Magazine recently covered how the group came to be, and many of its members got together to talk about how it all began. Notable participants in the reminiscing love fest include: Amy Poehler (Parks & Recration), Ed Helms (The Office), Ellie Kemper (The Office), Jack McBrayer (30Rock), Andy Richter (Conan), Aziz Ansari (Parks & Recration), Seth Meyers (SNL), and more! Crazy impressive, right?
To read the original article, click here.
Some of the highlights:
HELMS: A comedy community is comprised of a lot of people who have not thrived in conventional social circles. And that just makes for a giant pool of awkward sexuality.
ADAM PALLY, Happy Endings: I remember seeing Ellie [Kemper], because she’s the nicest person, getting trapped and literally having to make her way from nerd to nerd to nerd to get out of the theater.
RICHTER: For the next 20, 30, 40 years in this country, the comedy that we will be purchasing as consumers will have some UCB on it.
SETH MEYERS, SNL: They were all sort of exceptional. Besser was doing stuff that was aggressive and unique—he was a guy that everybody talked about in reverent tones. Ian is one of the purest improvisers, as far as never being out of the scene. Whereas Walsh always seemed a little out of the scene, in a way that let the audience know how much fun he was having. And Poehler was probably the most feminine and most masculine performer. Masculinity—that’s probably not the right word. She’s an alpha performer. I think that’s ingrained in her, but it got trained very well, being with those other three guys.
RICHTER: In the comedy world, a woman that strong and funny is worth ten funny guys.
